Signal-Copiahan. (Hazlehurst, Copiah County, Miss.) 1885-1888, 1887-02-17
THE COLONEL'S LUCK.
He Escaped Death by Descending
Into q Grave

81 have heard men talk against ma
tive supcrst;,ions," said Coloncl De
Lauuay, ~ hc and sat together in front
OF Il trim lulle c,fc in the public
square" ut Blidah. watching the sun
sink behind the huge dark wall Of the
Atlas mountains. "lt'S easy enough TO
laugh at such things. but I'm rather in
clincd to bc indulgcut to them myself;
for il il wasn't for one of those same
supcrstitions, shouldn't be here now"
How was tha,?" asked |. guessing
at once that there must be good story
coming.
well. this was how Il happened.
When we were out with Marshal La
moricicre in 1915. following Abd-El-
ka,lcr and his kahylc~ further and fur
thcr back into the desert. 1t bcfcll that
all at Oucc we lost all trace ot The Arabs
nS completely rs If the earth had Swal-
lowed them.
"rhi> was alwavs n bad sign with
such fellows u thc Klbylc~, for 1t was
just when You saw least Of them that
You WtCt dpl 10 lcti ih'~s.
There was no struggling from the
line OF march tha. time. | can promise
YOU. Every one was on the lookout,
night and day. Our mon slept with
their eyes open, and our old General
Kept sending ont scouts in every dircc-
tion; hut still nothing was to be- seen or
heard of the cucmy. till We all began TO
feel rather uncomfortable.
Il can remember. - we'll ~ IL ii
were Yesterday. how old Pierre Fau-
chc,. our rr.imcntal doctor. used To-
worry ~ by making great parade of
his knivc, and saws, and SAYING there
would be- plenty of work for them be-
fore lons. Aud at night when we got
together over bit of horScllc>h ar
boiled camel (for our Kitchen was get
ting 10 be Il very primitive one by this
tim1), the worthy doctor. by way of
amusing u aud keeping up our spirits,
would strike up a horrid Old son: that
hr had made himself. ea';-.i The Lion
and the Crow comparing Our army to
sick lion. and the Kahylc> to a crow
pounciug down upon it. This was how
IL began;
''rhe lion loo',cd In vain Cor the crow
Sc sign ~ that Gentleman black;
The lion lay down 10 talk, his rest,
And there was the CROW ON his back
"Wcll, one morning. while thincN
were ut this pass, was told that the
General wanted me. ~ in | went. and
found the old Turk looking grimmcr
than ever.
"Thou'rt young soldier, Henri.
said hc (hc always called me thou.
just a. one soldier might do To another).
but thou'rt the son of INV oldest friend,
and want io give thee chance. That
dog. Abd-E.-kadcr. never does amy
thing wi;hou; reason, and II he leaves
us in peace like this just now, its only
because he's preparing to s,rik" us
such blow aS We shall long remember.
Now. il that's the case. the sooner our
three columns are concentrated into one
the better. DoSt thou understand
IL understood perfectly. \ man was
wanted to ride across dna' know how
many miles of desert. with very good
chance of being shot or chopped into
sausagc-mcat. il he didn't happen 10
die of thirst or Sunstroke beforehand;
and |, il you please. was to bc the man.
III I'd had any time To think, l don I
suppose should haze felt rs much Hat
tered by the Generals choice as | ought
tohayc done; but thought only of the
chance Of bein. promoted. and of what
my father would say when he heard of
it. - | answered at once:
"'Say no more, General; I'm at your
service
"'Thou art thy fathers son. lad.
said the old fellow, clapping me on the
shoulder Here are the dispatches;
take my horse, and good luck 80 with
thee
Ten minutes later was out of sight
of the camp. and lying at full speed
acruSs the desert.
'.Now that was fairly launched. l
rather enjoyed il just at first Tie
Generals horse waS the best IN our
whole camp. and seemed actually to
fy rs he darted along. with our shadows
scurrying over the sand alongside a. If
they were running race with us.
Mile after mile. the hot. yellow, endless
plain went by; and at last | caught sight
of clump Of palms. far in the dis
tancc, which knew must overhang
well. And when ! came to IL. there
was Just five minutes halt while l
watercd my horse and let him breathe;
and took good drink myself; and
then we were of again.
.'The sun was just beginning TO sink
when reached the second column; but
Ididn't waste much time there. In less
than half an hour l was off again on
my way to find the third. upon a fresh
horse which they had saddled for me,
my own being used up.
.And now the really difficult part OF
nv work began in earnest You know
how soon ii gets dark in Africa. and 1t
wasn't long before Ifound myself steer
ing my way by the stars across coan-
TRY OF which knew nothing whatever.
with little chance of being able to ask
my way. since tho first man met